Creativity

Since I was a little girl, I enjoy and love art in any form. My family has intense art blood running through our veins. My grandpa (from my mum's side) is a musician. He played piano and saxophone. His mum is an architect. She was the one who design the house my mum spent her childhood in (still standing until this very moment... very beautiful house!). My grandma (again, from my mum's side) was a dressmaker. My mum herself graduated with an English Literature degree.

As from my dad, he's an architect. The house we live in at the moment (in Indonesia, of course) was designed and built by him 15 years ago. He renovated it oftenly, changed the paint color on the wall, the color of the couch, the verandah, the garage, EVERYTHING! - so we never get tired or bored with the house. Many people who had been to our house loved it! Many of the furnitures in our house are custom-builed (designed by my dad, of course) and vintage. My grandpa from my dad's side was a carpenter and owned his own workshop with some employees working for him. My grandma is a cook (really good one... i'm craving for her cooking at the moment.. huhu) and a singer.

So during my sparetime, I love to do a little bit of art... I don't do a lot of sketches like I did before, but I do like to play around with my photoshop. I like to edit pictures and give them a little edge, then make it into an icon. It's not much, but I really enjoyed it. Most of the pictures that I edited was picture of celebrated icons or a clip from a movie i like.

I've posted some here... it's already in the perfect size to be used for MSN display pic... So, please feel free to use them if you want to, and let me know what you think! :)

Creativity

Fight!

Have you ever felt so helpless because you can't help those around you? At times like this, I really wish I'm omnipresent or owned the 'Pintu Ajaib' that Doraemon has. My loved ones around the world are hurting, fighting their way to conquer problems, and how I wish I can be there for them physically and mentally. While prayers, support and encouragements are possible... it's impossible for me to be there physically even though I so badly want it.

I saw Laras's nick a few days ago in MSN. It said: "Fight the GOOD Fight". Christians are not designed to just 'accept' the way life as it is without a fight for the better life. God allows problems to come into our lives so that we can soar and rise through it, and come out as conquerers and winners. As it's stated in the Serenity prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can.
And the wisdom to know the difference."

This is it. This is the good fight.

For the queen of my heart: Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9). You're always on my mind, everyday and everytime. His eye is on the sparrow... so don't you worry. Oh, how I wish I can be there with you to hold your hands... but I can't. I will be with you there in spirit and prayers. I miss you everyday and I love you so much... Everything will be alright.

My ever-dearest best friend... I don't know what's God's plan for you behind all this, but I know it is for the best. Everything will be beautiful in His time yah nyonk... Really really wish I could be there for you physically but unfortunately can't.. But I'm always just a phone call and a prayer away :)

Fight!

Hillsong - One Thing

One thing I desire
One thing I seek
To gaze upon Your beauty
Your Majesty

God of my salvation
Lifter of my head
Teach me how to live O Lord
Your righteousness

So I pray to You
So I pray to You

Lord Your name
Is higher than the heavens
Lord Your name
Is higher than all created things
Higher than hope
Higher than dreams
The name of the Lord

In the days of trouble
You cover me
In the secret place of refuge
Lord I will sing

I will seek Your face
Call upon Your Name, Jesus
All I want is You
Jesus...

Hillsong - One Thing

Nothing but the truth.

As a sanguine-melancholic individual, I often trusted my 'guts' and my so-called intuition more than anything in this world. Oftenly, I got caught up so easily towards something, and fell flat on the face... and how many times I pledge not to let that happened again, yet I found myself in a similar kind of situation?

You think you know someone so well, to find out there's heaps more about those person that you didn't actually know about. You think you had it good, to find out that you didn't. You think you were on the right track, to find out that you were NOT. You assume assume assume and assume.

That's why I'm so easy to please AND to disappoint. It doesn't take much to make me happy (seriously). People always said, just bring me my favorite food and I'll be alright (well, sometime that IS just the case. hehehe) but of course, I often found myself being disappointed by people around me, again and again. Worse, I let my self down all the time.

Actually, that's the whole truth. I let myself down all the time. People don't disappoint me... it's what I expect of them that disappoints me. My expectations disappoint me.

I think, we can always expect high standards from God alone yah... You can't put that measurement to human beings as they will never be perfect. You should put your expectations in God alone, that should be more than enough. He's the one who completes you.

I remembered that I read in a book (I can't remember the title on top of my head now) that we shouldn't rely our happiness on other people. It's like, you expect someone to complete you. To understand you, to never hurt you (purposely or not). The ugly truth is: no one will be great enough to do that. NO ONE will ever be that perfect.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not suggesting you to go on a solitary mode and have no human interactions whatsoever. I'm telling you for not being TOO clingy on something. We're human beings, no matter how independent we are, we will always need others. We can't never live alone. Being independent is good though, it's like an achievement in a way, but trust me you can never live by yourself.

But you just told me not to rely on anyone???

Proverbs 4:23 said:

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

Never trust someone else with your heart, for it is clearly stated in the verse... 'guard your heart'. God is telling YOU (yes, yourself!) to guard your heart. Believe me, I know how it feels to put your heart, emotions, thoughts, feelings to someone else's hands and you ended getting hurt badly. Oh, but of course you can't do it alone... that's why God's here to complete you :)

Life is a leap of faith though... Some mistakes are allowed to be made because He wants us to learn from it (jangan kaya saya yah yang agak lemot gini, lama bener belajarnya hehehe) but the good news is: when you are going the wrong way, God always allows U-turn kok :) He will always catch you when you fall, I know that for sure.

And in the words of my good friend, Laras (and I quote her directly on this one! love ya nyonkkkk!):

"And as for my heart, I will guard it with all diligence. If I ever fall, I will let God mend what's broken. After all, 24 years living this life, He never failed to do it. Not even once."

Ditto :)

Nothing but the truth.

The wait is OFFICIALLY over!

Yes, that's right people! The wait for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is officially over. The final series of the book has been released today at 7:01 am (Perth time) in every bookstores in WA.

Being a fan of Harry Potter myself, I woke up today at 6, got ready and headed straight to Dymocks Carousel (thank God, it's only 2 minutes away from my house!) on foot. It was cold, dark and raining heavily! I forgot my umbrella, so I ran to Carousel and got soaked wet. Thank goodness I have my sweatshirt on, my ugg boots and my beanie so it wasn't that bad.

When I arrived there, there were already a sea of Harry Potter fans waiting anxiously outside the Carousel gate. Some of them even dressed up as the characters in the book! I saw Dumbledore, Tonks, Snape (YES!), Professor McGonagall, Professor Trelawny (seriously! hahaha), Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Cedric Diggory, Gryffindor squads and even Slytherins!

Kok gak ada yg dressed up jadi Dolores Umbridge yah? hihihi that would be funny.

The gate was opened at 7:05. 4 minutes late from the scheduled release. Some fans were furious and start yelling towards the security guards. It wasn't pleasant! Chill people, you'll get your book!!!

Anyhoo, I managed to get my hands on the book at approximately 7:10. Thank God I pre-ordered it so I didn't have to get in line for payments and stuff. Lisyen managed to call me at 7:01 sharp to ask "Did you get it already????" hahahaha :D you would have to wait to read yours yah syen... Sorry to hear that...

I had to go to the post office at 8.45, so I decided to sit down at Coffee Club... ordered a Green Tea. Sipped my tea and read the book all the way to chapter 3 (at the moment). Everyone in Coffee Club was reading Harry Potter! It was crazy.

I managed to get a few pictures wif my phone. Sorry, it's not that great! But at least you'll get an idea on what I'm talking about.

For those people who asked me to do things with them today... Sorry, I have a date wif Harry Potter today :) I'll try to read as much as I can today since I have things to do tonight. Sorry that I have to turned offers down...

Ok, so now... I'm going into a hibernate mode and enjoy Harry Potter. For those of you who already have a copy of the book, ENJOY! :)

See ya peeps!

The wait is OFFICIALLY over!

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

~Mitch Albom

Mr. IP said: you know what, i think you are scared of yourself.

She said: Gak usah dipikirin, better stay this way aja.

Miss D said: go for it. Nothing to lose anyway.

LS said: i can 'see' that, nyonk... i can 'feel' it too :)

FX said: basah2 dikit sih gpp, asal jangan nyebur aja dulu yah. trial and error :)

I said: I hate this.

The morning after...

So, people has been asking me what did I get for my birthday?

• FOUR different types of cakes! I seriously need to get my diet back on track :P
• A very thoughtful birthday card from Atuy. Thanks bro :)
• A beautiful necklace and brooch from Fanny
• A very surprising birthday gift from The Bunnies
• A surprise (spoiled by Wendis, btw. hahahaha that's okkk) from Rockers
• Dinner at OSB with the birthday boy and the rest of the gank (minus Lisyen.. I miss you!)
• A return flight ticket Jakarta-Perth from mum *thanks mommy...*
• A ticket to Christina Aguilera concert @ Burswood Dome THIS SATURDAY! woowww
• A gift voucher from my Morrison colleagues! SHOP SHOP SHOP :P
• Birthday wishes from testimonials, smses and phone calls.
• Hugs hugs hugs :) I'm such a sucker for hugssss.. You hugged me, you got me. hahaha :D

Back to reality, back to Monday. Have to work again, but I was kind of hoping of some event to happen on Monday... it didn't, so I kinda have a love/hate relationship with Monday today (hate on most cases, though :P). But then I received some more surprises today from colleagues and friends, which left me with the biggest smile on my face.

As I traveled back home from work today, I put on my iPod, stared outside the window and just contemplated. Somehow, I feel that God is trying to cheer me up today. He seemed to remind me that even though things didn't go as I expected them to be, people didn't do what I want them to do, it's not the end of the world. Really, I feel so spoiled today, it's overwhelming, it's unreal.

I didn't wish for these gifts that my friends gave me. But I do wish for one (amongst of my OTHER WISHES which is, like, a lot! hehe) and God made it really clear today. I have people that I love, whom loved me back as well. It's funny that the gift that matters the most is the gift that money can't buy. Doesn't matter the price/shape the gift has, it's the thought that counts.

But, hey, you gotta admit... cool gifts I got huh? hehehe :) and about my other wishes: that's between me and God aja yah...

Thanks everybody, for making my day! I love you guys soooo much :)

My goodness... time goes by so fast this year and I suddenly realized it's July already! and.. it's my birthday! oh noooooiiiii...

Yeap, the magic number: twenty three.

That stands for Psalm 23 or Michael Jordan's number hehe :) I am both excited and a bit nervous on being 23. More mature, more responsibilities yea? that's alrite.. I'm sure I'll be ok wif God on my side and also wif the encouragements, prayers and support from my loved ones.

So what's my plan for today?

Well, I have purchased my favorite bookcases (note: i purchased TWO!) from Ikea, and re-decorate my home for the whole evening. The other rooms are still in progress (ya kalo mau sekaligus gw bokek atuhhhh..) but I did my living room today.

After hours of hard work (and help from my lovely housemate: diana), I am very satisfied with the result!

Voila!

Please ignore the orange peels as Fang2 took this picture after we ate a plate of sweet tasty mandarins.. but I'm sure are happy with this look (even if red is my least favorite colour.. but yea..) I reckon it looks like something out of a catalogue *CIEEEEE*

So yeah, that's my gift to myself. I still am accepting gifts from family and friends.. so i'll be waiting guys! I do thank God for everything He has done in my life and i believe there'll be MORE to come!

Thanks everyone for the lovely birthday wishes :) God bless you guyss..

PS: happy birthday to you too! (you know who you are or should i mentioned name here? hehehehe)